Designing a home-centered life: learning, exploring, and creating with our five littles
{Homemade} ScienceWe took science to the kitchen today & learned about how "elements" can change when combined. First, we tasted both lemon and sugar separately. One was tart while the other was sweet. Then we tasted some homemade lemonade to see how combining one tart ingredient with one sweet ingredient plus some water would change the … [Read more...]
Science - The Franklin InstituteOur family took part today in a trip to The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia organized by our local CC community. The littles & I had never been before. My husband, being a native of the Philadelphia area, had fond childhood memories of trips to the science museum. There were so many great hands-on … [Read more...]
Geography - Trail WalkWe capitalized on the beautiful weather outside our door today & headed to our local park for a trail walk. While there, we had such a good time & used our imaginations to talk about what trail travel may have been like many years ago. The boys were able to draw on the knowledge they've gained in our … [Read more...]
Music - NY Philharmonic OrchestraI imagine it's becoming pretty evident that I really like visual or hands on learning! Today we watched a concert of the NY Philharmonic Orchestra performing in Central Park, thanks to our PBS channel. The boys were readily identifying different instruments and especially liked watching the conductor. … [Read more...]
Math - Measuring Feet & A Scavenger HuntFor a little fun with our new math, we traced & measured our own feet. I also armed each child with a ruler & sent them throughout the house on a 12"/foot long scavenger hunt. Each child was tasked with finding 3 different items that were 12" long. It only took them a matter of … [Read more...]
Geography - Watching Planet Earth Today we watched part of the Planet Earth DVD series; specifically the "fresh water" portion. Our whole family enjoyed seeing the magnitude of God's creation on display & learning more about rivers in the process. It was a proud CC Momma moment, when my eldest son said, "That must be the … [Read more...]
On Our BookshelfDon't you just love bringing home a new stack of books from the library? The boys & I are so excited to dig into reading these titles. We've already gotten started in a few. The Periodic Table book has cool graphics, which my boys are enamored by! What books are you reading together this week? … [Read more...]
Art - Roy Lichtenstein ColoringToday my boys requested some art by Roy Lichtenstein to color. I quickly googled images and printed out 2 that were suitable in size. They are not true coloring pages, but full color images printed in gray scale. They are enjoying coloring them as we speak! My hope is this will spark their … [Read more...]
Science - Quick Six Elements Card GameI found this free elements game, Quick Six, via the blog Half A Hundred Acre Wood.I immediately thought it would appeal to the boys & printed it out. Even if we don't play the game, the flashcards would be great for review & for laying out the periodic table on our own. The … [Read more...]
Math - Area of a CircleWhat could be better than making & slicing a pizza for lunch to learn about the area of a circle? Understanding Pi is a little outside the boys' reach for right now, but learning about diameter & radius is not. It was a fun, edible lesson! … [Read more...]